WASHINGTON - US soldiers who fired on a speeding vehicle carrying a freed Italian hostage in Baghdad waved their hands and arms, flashed white lights and fired warning shots in a failed attempt to get it to stop, the US army said Friday.
"When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block, which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others," the 3rd Infantry Division said in a statement.
One of the wounded occupants was Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who had just been freed from captivity by Iraqi insurgents. An Italian secret service agent who had negotiated here release was killed in the shooting.
The US military earlier said the incident occurred at a checkpoint Friday night in Baghdad. A Pentagon spokesman said Sgrena was being brought into US custody at Camp Victory, the US military headquarters adjuscent to the Baghdad International Airport.
The army statement said army medics treated one of the wounded occupants of the vehicle at the sence.
Sgrena, whom the statement did not identify by name, was "stabilized by medics and evacuated to an army medical facility for further treatment," the army said.
03/04/2005 22:22 GMT